


Datelines & Bylines

by Shea5mets



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Mistaken Identity, Photographer Magnus Bane, Reporter Alec Lightwood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-03-06 23:02:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18860746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shea5mets/pseuds/Shea5mets
Summary: Due to certain circumstances, daily newspaper hard news and political reporter Alec Lightwood decides it's time for a job and location change. When he comes across a position for a weekly newspaper close to his hometown just outside of New York City, it seems as though it was meant to be. Not only can this be a somewhat fresh start professionally, but it's a chance to be closer to his siblings again. What Alec was not expecting was for his first assignment to introduce him to a talented, glamorous freelance photographer.Magnus Bane has made a name for himself with his editorial photoshoots and ad campaigns. His friends are his family and New York City is not only the perfect spot for his career, but also the only place that has truly felt like home. Having just finished shoot, after shoot, after shoot, Magnus decides it's time to take a little time off before New York Fashion Week. What Magnus did not expect was for a favor for his brother in all but blood to introduce him to a quiet, flustered reporter, who he definitely wanted to find a way to work with again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the strange and interesting world of weekly newspapers. I am going to try very hard to update once a week, probably on Fridays, but I can't make any promises. 
> 
> Enjoy!

**Monday, Alec**

Alec starts pouring the creamer into his travel coffee mug when his phone buzzes on the countertop. With one hand he stirs the creamer while putting the bottle back in the fridge with the other. He snaps the top of the travel mug on and reaches for his phone.

_**Izzy:** Good luck on your first day big brother! Call me later with all the details!!!!! _

He lets out a quiet huff of a laugh as he sends a quick “thanks.” Alec knows he has no real reason to be nervous. This isn’t the first day of an internship during college or even the first day at a “real” job. He’s done this before and honestly, a small weekly newspaper in Idris is a far cry from working at _The Boston Globe_.

But the nerves come back as he grabs his bag, stuffs his phone in the pocket of his dark blue slacks and heads out the door to his SUV. No matter how often he reminds himself that there is no reason to be nervous, he is. Going from being the main hard news and political reporter at a large daily newspaper to a weekly newspaper reporter should be a nice change of pace, but he knows the day will be filled with meeting new people, trying to get everything situated just right at a new desk and learning a new system on top of looking forward to weeks of getting to know a new coverage area.

It’s a toss up between the meeting new people and becoming acquainted with a new system as to which he is dreading more. There have been many times since he decided on this career that he’s questioned how he ended up here and why he thought this would be a good idea. Working in such a people interaction heavy business doesn’t seem to be where an introvert should end up. 

He is damn good at this job though. Just about anywhere else and he will try to avoid speaking or making eye contact with people, but give him a recorder, notebook and pen? It’s as if a whole different Alec G. Lightwood comes out. There is no better feeling than rushing to meet deadline and knowing his words will make people think, get a reaction out of them. Even more so when there’s enough of a reaction for his inbox and voicemail to fill up with praises or even complaints. He loves it, even when he’s surviving purely on coffee and will power.

The rush of an impending deadline, finally getting that one crucial piece of information that no one else has even come close to getting yet and being one of the firsts to break the story is something that he thrives on. That rush, that feeling is one that he never thought he could find anywhere else until he met...yeah that train of thought needs to stop right there.

“Not today,” he said aloud as he shifted into drive. “I will not let him ruin this too.”

Alec spent the rest of the drive to his new office reminding himself that this could be better. This could be a good change of pace. He could bring a new kind of reporting style to this paper and shine just as brightly, if not more brightly, here than in Boston. This was a chance to get back to the kind of reporting that made him fall in love with journalism all the way back in middle school.

And if he was being truly honest with himself, this is his chance to be just Alec again. It was only a few weeks ago when Jace, his brother, had mentioned that he missed the old Alec. At the time, Alec didn’t really understand what he meant, but now he thinks he might get it. He didn’t realize how much he had changed during his time in Boston. If there’s any silver lining to this, it’s being able to be near his siblings again and being the big brother he’s always prided himself on being.

By the time he pulls into the parking lot at the office, he’s nerves have calmed down a bit. Of course he’s early, as he usual, but there are other cars in the parking lot. A good sign. A good first impression doesn’t typically start with making people wonder who the stranger sitting in the parking lot is. With a deep breath in and out, he opens his car door, grabs his bag and heads to the front of the office.

Entering the office at _The Idris Area Item_ is vastly different from what he’s used to. There are no receptionists. The sprawling lobby filled with people nearly sprinting this way and that way while talking on a bluetooth and filling in meetings on their phones is missing. The dings of the elevators, quick steps and buzz of numerous people talking all at once are instead filled with the squeak of the door, a gurgle from what looks to be a rather ancient looking coffee pot on a small table right behind the large counter taking up much of the front of the office and the slow tapping of keys followed by the Windows starting chime.

Alec leans back on his heels for a moment, starts to lift his right hand to run through his hair before stopping midway reminding himself that first impressions matter, instead fixes the collar on his polo, and then shuffles his feet a bit to let the only other sign of life he’s heard in the office know that someone is at the counter. It may only take another minute or so, but to Alec it feels like ages before a face pops out of what must be a line of smaller offices behind the counter.

“We don’t really open until closer to 8 so,” the guy with short blonde hair, wearing dark black jeans and a plain v-neck t-shirt trails off as he approaches the counter looking at Alec skeptically.

“Yeah, um. I’m the new reporter,” Alec said to the guy who is still looking at Alec like he’s not quite sure what that information has to do with why Alec is standing here before the office opens. “I’m Alec. Lightwood. Alec G. Lightwood.”

And now Alec is very tempted to just bang his head repeatedly on the counter in front of him. He’s met a wide array of people, some famous, and this is as eloquent as he could be during his first few minutes in the office? Great. Perfect. Yeah, who doesn’t want their soon to be coworker to think they’re some pretentious ass right off the bat. So much for thinking the nerves were gone

The guy in front of him hasn’t really moved or changed expression during Alec’s rough introduction, which may be his saving grace. Alec always thought all reporters had at least basic human interaction skills, but he’s not really in a place to judge at the moment. Yeah, he’s not passing any of this on to Izzy later. He really doesn’t need to add that to her already too long list of embarrassing moments in Alec Lightwood’s life.

“Lydia Branwell told me to just come in when I got here today,” Alec said, glad that he was at least able to get that out clearly.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to break the stalemate the two seem to have going on here. Just when the silence seems as though it will drag on forever, Alec hears a chair drag along the carpet before he sees movement from an office on the opposite side of where his current new coworker appeared from.

“Mr. Lightwood,” a voice belonging to who has to be Lydia Branwell is heard just before a woman exits the office and makes her way to the counter. She’s dressed very business casual with a pair of khaki slacks, dark green blouse and her blonde hair pulled back in a tight, low ponytail. “I’m your new editor Lydia Branwell. Very nice to meet you.”

She holds out her hand which Alec quick shakes and then she shifts her gaze to the other writer behind the counter. Lydia pointed looks between the man and the coffee pot before he seems to get the hint, quickly grabbing the finished pot and taking it back into what must be his office.

“Sorry about Andrew. I’m not quite sure he’s awake before he has his second cup of coffee here in the office,” Lydia said before motioning for Alec to come behind the counter. “Come on. We’re a bit pressed for time today with the paper printing tomorrow, so let’s get you settled quickly and then I’ll have Simon show you how to use the programs and all of that.”

She leads him past Andrew’s office, who looks a bit more lively as they pass even giving Alec a wave, before pushing the door open to the office next to Andrew’s. Just as Lydia motions for Alec to go through the doorway, a man with short brown hair and wearing a faded band t-shirt and jeans comes down the hallway. As he goes, he bangs into the walls along the side trying to carry an open laptop in one hand with headphones around his neck, and a phone and coffee in the other while what seems to be another laptop secure in a laptop bag barely staying on his shoulder.

He stops at the office just past Alec’s and tries to push the door open with one foot while maintaining his balancing act. On the second try he gets the door open, but as he goes by the strap of his laptop bag loops around the door handle causing a slight jerk as it stops his momentum forward.

Without hesitation, Lydia reaches for the strap, quickly getting it off the door handle while the man says a near breathless “thanks” as he makes his way over to the desk.

“And that is Simon,” Lydia said, with a bit of fondness in her eyes. “Hey Simon? When you get a chance, I have a new assignment for you.”

Lydia must not be expecting a response as she turns back to Alec and gestures for him to enter his new work home. As far as office spaces go, it’s certainly not overly roomy like his space in Boston. But he does have a window that he can easily look out with the way the desk is situated. His work laptop and monitor are already all set up on the desk with a phone squeezed into the corner. The desk chair has seen better days, but he can make it work. Besides, it’s not like anyone can complain if he happens to bring in his own chair after a few days. And if that chair just so happens to have been formerly housed in Boston, so be it. If he’s going to be spending time in this office, he’s going to make sure he’s at least comfortable.

“That’s your laptop. You can leave it here at the end of the day, but I would recommend at least taking it home with you on the weekends. No matter how often I try to give people weekday deadlines, everything seems to come in over the weekend,” Lydia said. “Okay, I have to get back to my desk, but Simon will be over shortly to get you all set up. He’s kind of our back up IT when we can’t get the main office to help out quickly.”

Alec nods when she pauses. She gives a quick nod back before continuing.

“If you need anything, my office is right there so just let me know. I know this can’t even be close to what you’re used to Mr. Lightwood, but we’re glad to have you on board,” Lydia said.

“Thanks,” Alec said as he starts to put his bag down on the desk. “And please, just call me Alec.”

“Got it,” Lydia replied as she started toward the door. “I’ll let Simon get you started and then you can help with editing.”

“Great,” Alec said, hitting the power button on the laptop and settling into the chair.

Lydia walks back to her office, quickly stopping in to see Simon. Alec can hear them talking but can’t make out the words. That’s a good sign. It’s reassuring to know that the sound doesn’t travel too well in the office. He was worried what a nightmare phone interviews would be in such a small office.

Just as he starts to open the drawers in his desk, Lydia stops back in with a post-it note in her hand. Alec stops and looks up, banging his knee on the desk as he turns toward the door. Lydia winces but doesn’t mention it though that doesn’t stop Alec’s face from heating up. He knows his cheeks would be red if he looked in a mirror and that just causes them to heat up even more, probably the tips of his ears too.

“I almost forgot,” she began flicking the post-it note before handing it to him. “Here’s your first assignment for Wednesday. It’s for our county fair guide. Don’t worry about photos, we have one of our freelance photographers already assigned. I’ll let you know more about it once you’re a bit more settled.”

Alec grabs the note, looking at the name, location and time. He blinks quickly a few times as he stares at the interview time, 7:30 a.m. Good think he’s been unable to sleep to his alarm in his new apartment. Alec’s used to late nights and just making deadline, but looks like that’s about to change. He wanted, no needed a change and that’s what he’s getting apparently.

Even with the early morning, the excitement is there for his first assignment. This is familiar, this is what he’s good at. As he pulls out his planner to put the information in, he looks up at a knock on the open door to his office.

“Hey man. I’m Simon,” he said as he starts to drag a chair through the doorway, stopping it right next to Alec. “And now it’s time to introduce you to your next relationship. It’s kind of like starting a throuple.”

Simon grabs the mouse to the laptop while he talks and starts clicking on some of the icons on the screen. As they start to open up and Simon enters the general passwords in, he turns back to Alec who still hasn’t said anything in reply to what he really hopes was a joke.

“Ladies first, I was raised to be a gentleman after all. This is Doris. She’s a bit finicky and only really works when she wants to, on her own terms. And this over here is the over eager, always updating Neo,” Simon said as he turned back to Alec, wiggling his eyebrows. “Welcome to your new relationship. Be ready to spend plenty of days getting to know them intimately and probably even more nights fighting with them and possibly crying. Just try to be gentle. They’re trying to please a lot of us all at one time and that can be a lot.”

Alec can’t help but feel like Andrew a few minutes ago. What is he even listening to? This is who is in charge of teaching him the systems? He’s far from an expert when it comes to IT, though he was on a first name basis with just about everyone in IT in the Boston newsroom, but he’s pretty sure none of what was just said to him makes any sense.

“Um, yeah. I’m not sure what any of that means,” Alec said as Simon finally stops wiggling his eyebrows and settles on a more serious expression.

“Okay then, that usual works but I guess not this time,” Simon said. “Let’s start over. I’m Simon. You are Alec. This is a laptop. You figured out where the power button is, so that’s a really great start. Now, you want to move this block thing, also called a…”

“I know what a mouse is,” Alec interrupted, adding a glare for good measure. “Can you, just, speak normal through this instead of whatever that just was.”

Simon just looked at Alec for a few moments before a look of understanding came over his face and he gave a nod. Alec grabbed the legal pad from his bag and a pen motioning for Simon to start again.

“Okay man. Yes, I can do that,” Simon said. “So Doris, you won’t use too often but in case you need to grab something from the archives you should at least know the basics. But let’s start with Neo…”

*******

Alec spent the rest of his day learning two systems and trying to get a better grasp on how to interact with his coworkers. Once he was familiar enough with the systems he started entering submissions in and editing them before passing them along to Lydia for a final check. He joined the others in a small back room that served as the lunch room. For the most part everyone was focused on their own tasks and quickly grabbing their phones whenever an email notification dinged.

Toward the end of the day Lydia asked Alec to come to her office while she started to pack up.

“Sorry that I didn’t get a chance to help you out more today, Alec. The day before we go to print is always a bit crazy,” Lydia said. “So tomorrow I’ll be at our main office proofing pages and going to our regular meeting. Spend some more time working in the system and feel free to start coming up with story ideas. Simon and Drew can help you out if you have any questions or anything.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Alec said. “On Wednesday should I come here first or…”

“No, don’t worry about coming here first,” Lydia said. “Just head right to the interview with Missy and Raphael, our photographer, will meet you there. Again, really glad to have you on board Alec and can’t wait to see your articles. Now, it’s time to go home so let’s get out of here.”

After making sure to say good night to everyone, because apparently that was what you did in a smaller office, Alec spent the drive home feeling that he could make this work. This was going to be good for him.

Once he got home, he made sure to text Izzy to let her know that he was still alive and told her he would call her later this week. Based on her quick response, she wasn’t thrilled to have to wait to hear about his first day, but there wasn’t much she could do to make Alec call her right now. Besides, if he waited until after the interview on Wednesday, he could tell her all about the interviewee rather than have her ask how he was doing and bringing up Raj. The more he could stall any more of those talks the better.

That Alec, which included Raj, was left in Boston. This Alec was just a simple weekly newspaper reporter, living in Idris, New York, and focusing on spending time with his siblings. Yeah, that sounded perfect to Alec at this point.

* * *

 

Next chapter, we see what Magnus was up to that Monday.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now onto Chapter 2.
> 
> Not sure how familiar everyone is with the newspaper world so to clarify as I'm sure these terms will show up quite a bit, "freelancer," "stringer" and "correspondent" are all someone who works for the paper but are not employed by the paper. They are often brought on by the paper's editor (rather than the company itself) and are paid for the work they submit rather than a regular wage. Some people do it as a hobby and others make a living by it by freelancing for multiple entities.
> 
> If there are ever any questions on any of the terms used, please don't hesitate to ask. I sometimes forget that not everyone speaks newspaper/reporter/editor 24/7.
> 
> Enjoy!

**Monday, Magnus**

For the first time in a very long time, Magnus was early to meet his in all but blood family members at Sarabeth’s Upper West Side for breakfast. Usually Catarina, Ragnor and Raphael tease him about his habit of always running late. Though is one really late if everyone else just tends to be early? Knowing he would easily be outvoted on that, due to obvious bias, Magnus never brought up his good point to the group.

Every Monday they all tried to keep the morning of their busy schedules open so they can meet to celebrate successes, commensurate failures, encourage each other and, when needed, talk each other down from the ledge. It was Raphael who came up with the idea almost a year ago now when he realized just how stressed out they all were and that holidays with the occasional get together now and then just weren’t enough for them.

At the time Magnus was booking shoot after shoot, sometimes even double booking, to avoid the heartbreak from his relationship with Camille ending. Ragnor was questioning if he still wanted to be the publisher of _The New York Eagle_ while more was being added to his plate including three new weekly newspapers that would become his responsibility on top of the daily newspaper. Catarina had just lost a long-time, recurring patient and in an effort to deal with her guilt over the loss she could have in no way prevented, she was pushing herself to take every shift and fix every patient no matter how far past saving they were.

And Raphael was dealing with his sister Rosa’s sudden illness that had her going from doctor to doctor to doctor looking for a reason for her debilitating pain. After Rosa was finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia, Raphael left his own photography career to move in with his sister just outside of the city. Since then he’d been freelancing and spending more time in the kitchen cooking some of his favorite meals. Rosa has been trying to get him to pursue his love of cooking since he moved in, and slowly, Raphael is coming around to the idea.

Strangely enough, the odd schedules they all seem to have has helped them keep the  breakfast date far more often than not. Even if only two of them can meet up that week, they do and make sure to have a group call later just to make sure they are all watching out for each other.

Without these three, Magnus has no idea where he would be. The weekly meetings and checkins have emphasized the importance of asking for help and leaning on someone when things get hard. He is far from being an open book, but he finds it easier to open himself up and be vulnerable with Cat, Ragnor and Raph.

Magnus can very easily be described as a workaholic. He enjoys being busy and the finer things in life. Most of the time the only speed he knows is fast. He doesn’t need to stop and smell the roses to enjoy the moment. Having some kind of camera with him just about every second of the day allows him to keep the pace he needs and be able to look back on those moments as they were captured. As a bonus, it gives him something to do during travel time, and in this case waiting on his not so early today friends.

That being said, Magnus is bored. As much as he loathes to admit it, he needed a break but he has so much time on his hands that he doesn’t know what to do with it. Even checking his email doesn’t give him anything to pass the time with as his assistants, Lily and Elias, changed his passwords to every and all things related to his work so he can “enjoy his much deserved time off” as everyone keeps putting it.

He made a promise to his friends that he would take a break as soon as his recent shoots were finished and before New York Fashion Week needed him. And promises were something that Magnus did not break, no matter the circumstance if he could help it. It was Raphael who bluntly pointed out that Magnus was starting to look like a manic hedgehog and worse than after his breakup with Camille that led to him promising his concerned friends to take the time off. Even if it was just to see them get those looks off their faces. Sometimes, even if it was for one’s own health, it sucked having a support system that cared so much and was so invested.

To kill some time while he waited, Magnus hit the Instagram icon on his phone. Taking a break from being behind the camera didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate the work others were doing. Rather than opening up instantly to his feed, a box popped up prompting him to enter his password. The first “incorrect password, try again” response had Magnus thinking he forgot a capital or hit the wrong letter. By the third time, he became suspicious of just how dedicated Lily and Elias were to their jobs.

“Damn it,” Magnus said. He closed the app, put the phone down on the table and leaned back in the chair with a groan.

Yes, Magnus used the app for work, but no way could they have deemed even social media programs as unacceptable vacation time programs. After trying Facebook and Twitter, with the same result, Magnus had to give up. He made a mental note to reach out to Elias, the easier of the two to sway, to at least allow him his social media accounts during this time off.

Thankfully, games did not seem to fall under this category. Magnus was down to one life of Simon’s Cat Pop Time when the chair to his left was pulled back away from the table. A Starbucks trenta coffee cup was placed on the table a few moments later. The distraction caused Magnus to lose the carefully lined up shot he was making and thus ended his lives for the next 20 minutes or so.

He sighed and put the phone face down on the table. “I was so close to finally getting passed this level. It’s like the universe never wants me to move on,” Magnus said as he folded his arms between the edge of the table and his phone, followed by his forehead resting lightly on his arms, carefully avoiding messing up his makeup or hair.

“I’d say vacation looks good on you, but I’m not quite sure that would be anywhere close to accurate right now. It’s only been what a week and this is where you’re at?” Ragnor asked as he settled into the chair. “My how the mighty have certainly fallen.”

“I hate you,” Magnus mumbled into his arms before leaning back again. “Why on earth did I ever become friends with you? What must I have done in a past life?”

“I am far less worried about whatever past chaos you’ve caused and more focused on your current life decisions,” Ragnor replied as he took a sip of what must have been an overly sweet drink based on the amount of whipped cream and shavings spilling out of the top of the cup. “I am glad to see you finally embracing the idea of slowing down, but at what cost my dear friend?”

Before Magnus can stop him, Ragnor reaches for his phone and enters in the password. Of course Magnus can’t even get into his own things, yet here Ragnor is easily getting into even someone else’s password protected item. Must be nice. Maybe he should have Lily and Elias set up a new password for his phone while they’re at it to protect if from all too willing to tease friends.

“Trust you to find a cat themed game,” Ragnor said with a shake of his head, putting the phone back down.

“I seem to have new passwords on just about everything else. It seems as though games are the only things deemed safe for me at the moment,” Magnus said, judging the lack of reaction from Ragnor. “You put them up to this didn’t you.”

Ragnor laughs when Magnus starts to glare at him, shaking his head.

“I, in fact, had nothing to do with this. Though it wounds me that you would think I was capable of such a thing,” Ragnor said, bringing his right hand over his heart as if in pain from Magnus’ accusation.

“Now I don’t believe that for a second,” a new voice said, taking the seat across from Magnus and on Ragnor’s left, giving him a kiss on the cheek as she sat down.

Cat grabbed Ragnor’s drink, taking a sip before sliding it back over to him, and asked, “And what exactly have you had no part in, though we know that has to be a lie, this time?”

“Well it appears, my dear, that our good friend Magnus here reacts the same way to vacation as one would react to a hard hit to the head. He appears to have lost all common sense,” Ragnor said. “According to Magnus, someone has changed the passwords to his accounts.”

“Sorry Magnus, but unless he convinced the paper’s IT staff to have a go at it, he’s probably telling the truth,” Cat said, with a shrug.

Magnus’ glare grew to include the both of them as they looked back at him with smiles. He couldn’t help but envy the connection his friends had with each other. Yes, seeing them happy was all he could have ever wished for, but he couldn’t help but want some of that for himself as well.

“I’m not accusing him of doing it. I know who did it, my two assistants that for reasons unknown I decided to hire one day,” he said. “What I don’t believe is that they did it on their own with no outside encouragement. And that, my darling, I know Ragnor can do.”

Ragnor opens his mouth to defend himself again when he catches sight of an approaching figure. He diverts his attention from Magnus to Raphael as he gets closer to the table.

“Sorry I’m a bit late,” Raphael said, taking the last empty seat and nodding to the waitress who placed glasses of water for them on the table and handed them menus. “And going off of that glare, I’ve obviously missed something here.”

“Magnus,” Ragnor began gesturing to the subject, “is apparently unable to get into any of his social media apps. While he knows who is responsible, he does not believe they acted alone. You wouldn’t happen to have anything to add to that would you, Raphael?”

The tone in Ragnor’s voice causes suspicion to rise in Magnus’ mind. Lily formerly worked for Raphael. In fact, it was because of Raphael’s recommendation that Magnus pretty much hired Lily before even speaking with her. And not only did Lily work as Raphael’s assistant, but the two had become very good friends. Magnus should have known. This time off really was slowing him down.

“How could you,” Magnus said. “I trusted you and this is what you do. I feel so betrayed.”

“Oh stop being over-dramatic,” Raphael said with an eyeroll. “You needed real time off and we all know that won’t happen if you’re constantly checking in on everything.”

“He has a point,” Cat added.

“Fine,” Magnus said with a sigh. “You’re forgiven, though I wanted it noted that it’s being done so reluctantly.”

With that settled, they all focus on their menus. They each order the same thing every week, but glancing through the other options is a hard habit to break. Once the final menu closed, the waitress stopped by their table and to take their orders.

Ragnor’s phone pings and he quickly grabs it opening up his email. Magnus has never wished so much to be able to check email. He’d even welcome scrolling through spam at this point. Ragnor types out a quick response and leans across the table to show Raphael.

“Thanks for reminding me as if I haven’t been trying to find someone else to do it or reschedule,” Raphael said, frowning.

“Scared of the sheep?” Ragnor asked, raising an eyebrow before explaining the assignment to Magnus and Cat. “Raphael has been assigned to take some photos for the fair guide the _Item_ puts together every year on Wednesday. Lydia wants this year’s main feature to focus on one of the main people behind getting the fair running every year. She also just so happens to be involved with 4H and FFA including raising sheep on her farm.”

“I may not know much about farming, but shouldn’t the sheep still be there on just about any other day?” Magnus asked not sure why Raphael couldn’t just move his part of the assignment.

Raphael nodded along and lifted a finger to point at Magnus. “See, even Magnus agrees with me,” he said.

Ragnor sighed, mumbling something about “children” causing Cat to laugh at his exasperation and give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“As thrilled as I am to see you two not being petty and constantly poking each other, it’s not my call and you know it. Lydia has a new reporter starting today and he’s being assigned to the story. She wants him to focus on getting his feet wet with this and wants some really strong photos for the guide. So it had to be you. She also wants photos of the woman being interviewed, not just the sheep or profile shots,” he said.

Ragnor gives it a few beats before asking, “Why are you trying to get out of it anyway? I thought you were enjoying doing freelance.”

“I am, really I am. Being able to somewhat set my own schedule is great,” Raphael said. “But Rosa really wants to go to this special exhibit opening before her appointment and I don’t know if it’s going to be possible depending on how long this shoot goes.”

“And you couldn’t take her after the appointment instead?” Cat asked.

“No. The artist and gallery are doing this special soft opening in the late morning into early afternoon for those that might do better in a less crowded setting. Some of the people from the support group have been talking about it which got Rosa really interested in it,” Raphael said. “I’m starting to regret convincing Magnus take time off instead of doing it myself.”

And if this was a cartoon, the lightbulb above Magnus’ head would have just lit up. This was his opportunity. He could get away from boredom for a few hours and no way could any of them argue that he was breaking his promise of taking some time off if he was helping out a dear friend.

“What if I go instead?” he asked.

Suddenly three sets of eyes focused on Magnus. Based on the looks on their faces they had to be thinking he was kidding.

“I’m serious,” he added.

“You, Magnus Bane, the highend fashion photographer and all those other posh brand campaigns, wants to go from working with supermodels and experts in the industry, to working with sheep? On a farm in Idris?” Ragnor asked, dumbfounded. 

“Why?” asked Raphael.

“I’m sorry,” Cat said, trying to catch her breath while laughing. “But...you...on a farm...with sheep? I 100 percent volunteer to go with if this happens.”

Yeah, Magnus takes it back. These friends are not supportive, they’re assholes.

“I’m serious,” he repeated. “Look, I have more than enough time on my hands. It’s not really work since it’s so far from what I usually do. You said it’s a new reporter so it’s someone that has never even met Raphael. I can easily just say that I’m him and can totally pull off the grumpy, vampire personality he usually has going for him.” Magnus notices the look Raphael gives him at that description and attempts to mimic him. “See, I can do it too.”

Ragnor considers Magnus for a few moments. He looks again at Raphael and notices the tension in his shoulders and that only his eyes give away how much he wants to go with this plan.

“Fine,” Ragnor said followed by a long sigh. “But, no one can know, especially Lydia. She is one person that is not afraid of me technically being her boss and having the capability of firing her. I do not need that kind of phone call from her.”

Raphael’s shoulders relax and he nods in thanks to both Ragnor and Magnus.

“So what time is this shoot again, I want to make sure I’m free,” Cat said, while reaching for her phone. “This I absolutely cannot miss.”

“No, no and no,” Magnus said as he brings up Wednesday on his calendar, which he is surprisingly not locked out of though it seems far more empty than when he last looked at it.

“I have to agree with Magnus on this one,” Ragnor said to Cat. “As much as I would love to hear all about it by a third party with what I’m sure would be some wonderful video evidence, I have to put the publisher hat on here rather than the husband hat, my dear.”

“Fine, I’ll most likely end up being on shift then anyway,” Cat said.

Magnus handed his phone to Raphael so he could enter in the details including the start time and address.

“Thank you Magnus. Seriously. Rosa and I most definitely owe you,” Raphael said.

“It’s a win-win. You get to take your lovely sister to this exhibit and I get an escape from boredom,” Magnus said waving off Raphael’s gratitude. “Though I will need to borrow your jeep as I assume you are going taking the van to the exhibit and doctor’s office.” Raphael nodded. “Great. And maybe, we’ll add one of your special dinners to the list in the near future too. It’s been far too long since I’ve been at casa de Santiago.”

“Of course, you know you’re welcome anytime, hermano,” Raphael said, handing the phone back to Magnus. “Why don’t you come over tomorrow for dinner, we’ll cook and then you can stay over and take the jeep in the morning?”

“Sounds perfect,” Magnus said.

As they all went back to finishing their breakfast before at least three of them had to be off to their respective responsibilities, Magnus could hear Ragnor mumbling about disasters and hoping that every bit of good karma he had left could be used in avoiding them. With an eyeroll, Magnus grabbed a grape from the fresh fruit cup on the table and, with perfect aim, hit Ragnor right between the eyes. While Ragnor did his best to completely ignore the fruit, Cat reached across the table for a high-five from Magnus, then threw the grape into her mouth.

Once breakfast was finished and they all wondered off, Magnus decided to take a stroll through Central Park before heading back to his penthouse. Knowing he had some kind of work, even if it involved a farm and animals, lightened his steps. Just this short amount of time made him miss the extra weight around his neck and in his hand followed by the clicking of his favorite cameras. They were more than just tools of the trade for him, they were an extension of his hands and sight.

Granted this would be far from his usual work, but at this point Magnus was not complaining. He missed being behind the camera and taking something that could be deemed ordinary and making it artistic and jump off the page. He was ready for this. All he had to do was remember to introduce himself as Raphael, say as little as possible otherwise and get back to Raphael and Rosa’s house as soon as the shoot ended.

Now, he thought as he strolled along the path to the Bethesda Terrace and fountain, what the hell was he going to wear to a photoshoot in a pasture on a farm?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone that has read this so far and has subscribed or left kudos and comments. It's always a nice surprise to see others enjoy something you wrote.
> 
> Next time, we skip Tuesday and after a brief recap head to Wednesday :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the first meeting, enjoy.
> 
> Also just wanted to put it out there, if you can, please support local journalism. Read your local papers (daily and weekly) when possible. A lot of work goes into the articles and pictures.

**Wednesday, Magnus**

It’s a few minutes before 5:30 a.m., when his alarm is set to go off, that Magnus wakes up. For some reason no matter when his alarm is set for, when things are going just as they should be he tends to be wake up just before. He reaches over and turns the alarm off on his phone. It’s odd to not see the little red bubble with numbers in the double digits next to his email icon. Magnus enjoys being up as the rest of the world around him wakes up too. There’s something magical about seeing the night fade away as the sun begins to rise.

Whenever it comes up that Magnus enjoys being up early, it seems to surprise people. They assume, because of his profession and appearance, that he stays out all night, partying at some extravagant and over the top club, finding someone to warm his or a bed for the night, and sleeping in well past noon the next day. He’s had his fair share of wild nights, but Magnus much prefers waking up early.

He learned quickly that it took discipline and dedication to succeed in this profession. He may be talented, but there are plenty of other skilled photographers waiting to scoop up the campaigns he works on and, in some eyes, he can just as easily be replaced. At least that’s how it was in the beginning before he made a name for himself in the business. His ability to be spontaneous and adapt quickly have also helped Magnus create the career he’s wanted from the moment he first took a picture using one of those disposable cameras. No matter what the subject of the shoot is, model or inanimate object, photoshoots can be wildly unpredictable. He has to think fast when something comes up, as it always does, and still be in control.

Even now when he is in such demand, getting all the moving parts together for a shoot requires some creative scheduling and odd hours. But that was part of what Magnus loves about this profession, not knowing what each day would ultimately bring. That is precisely why offering to play Raphael for the day was something he barely even had to thing about, well that and being able to finally do something during this forced vacation.

Before heading to the shower to start his morning routine, Magnus made his way into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. He knew Raphael and Rosa would be up not too long after he left and the least he could do was make a full pot. When the coffee began to drip into the pot, Magnus went back to getting ready. 

After a quick shower, he laid out his clothes for the day on the bed in the guest bedroom. The just loose enough not to be skin tight jeans with artfully distressed holes, because why not pay a fortune for jeans with holes in them, were a gift from a recent client. And upon thinking about it, so were the deep purple v-neck t-shirt and plaid short sleeve overshirt with a purple and teal pattern on it. Of course so were the fresh out of the box black cowboy boots with splashes of teal and intricate stitching decorating the mid calf to ankle area on the sides.

“Perks of the job,” Magnus said when he pulled the boots on. The boots would have to go over the bottom part of jeans as there was no way he would be able to get the pant legs over the boots. It’s a good thing he thought about matching the boots even if he wasn't planning on that part of them being visible.

He reached for his phone again to quickly snap a picture to send to Cat later. She always picked on him for his collection of gifts from clients, a good amount of which stayed unopened in what has become his private storage room. If it wasn’t for that room, he certainly would not have had the proper footwear for today so this will work in his favor next time Cat decided to comment on the room.

Once mostly dressed, Magnus heads back into the bathroom to style his hair into its usual somewhat mohawk form. He heeded Raphael’s advice to go light on the product to avoid having to deal with bugs on top of taking photos of sheep. His signature eyeliner was put on next and then topped it all off with eyeshadow, purple with a touch of black today. Then it was back to the room to grab three necklaces all in varying lengths, his ear cuff which resembled a vine, and five rings spread out on his fingers. Magnus may be heading out to pasture, but he still had a certain reputation to uphold.

He does a quick check in the full length mirror set up in the corner room and then grabs his camera back which he made sure to organize the night before. Magnus heads to the kitchen, pours the coffee into a to-go cup, snaps the lid on and heads to the door making sure to grab the keys to Raphael’s Jeep before closing the door, making sure it’s locked. As he settles into the driver’s seat with his camera bag belted in on the passenger seat, he takes a sip of his coffee, black. Being able to take his coffee black has saved him quite a bit of time over the years and it has the added bonus of really waking him up.

The drive to the farm is rather easy and uneventful, even on unfamiliar roads. Thanks to his early years of having to find his own way to remote locations or through a maze of doors to finally find the room of a photoshoot, Magnus has become a navigation pro. It’s actually rather nice to be back to finding his own way, and makes him nostalgic. This, heading to a photoshoot for a friend, relaxes him. It reminds him of just how much he loves this career. Maybe this vacation won’t be so bad after all if he can find a way to do more of this.

Thanks to Raphael’s directions and the large numbers on the mailbox, Magnus easily finds the dirt driveway to the farm. Making his way down the lane, he reminds himself that at least for a little while this morning he is Raphael Santiago. Introducing himself incorrectly could lead to a not so great confrontation with Lydia, someone he has never met but has heard enough about from Raphael and Ragnor to know that he does not want to get on her bad side.

Magnus parks the Jeep beside an old pickup truck in front of the house to the right of the driveway. On the left he sees a barn with fencing around it and another dirt path leading farther into the property. Beyond the first barn is a larger barn and pasture area in which he sees some movement. Grabbing his camera bag, and wow he doesn’t remember it being this heavy, he makes his way to the second barn. As he gets closer he sees the sheep meandering around the fenced in area and a woman leaning on one of the fence posts. Once he’s closer he sees her hands, covered in thick gloves, working with the wire around the post. 

She must hear him approach as she takes her attention away from the wire and straightens up. “Ah, the photographer I take it?”

“That would be me,” Magnus said, holding out a hand, after pulling the camera bag strap up his shoulder a bit. “Hi, I’m Raphael Santiago.”

“Missy Morgan,” she replied shaking his hand. “And these are your models for the day.”

“You as well, I believe,” he said.

“Ugh, don’t remind me. Fair warning? I hate having my picture taken,” Missy said.

“You are not alone there. But it really won’t be too bad. The majority of the pictures will be taken while you’re talking to the reporter, who I’m guessing isn’t here yet?” Magnus said, raising an eyebrow.

“Haven’t had anyone else come up the drive this morning,” Missy said.

“Okay, so that will wait then. You probably won’t even notice the clicking once the interview starts,” Magnus said. “I’ll start with the sheep and get those shots out of the way.”

“Works for me,” Missy said. “How do you want them?”

“Just as they are for now and I’ll see how that goes,” he said. “I’ll let you know if I run into any issues.”

Missy nodded while Magnus set his camera bag down grabbing one of the two cameras in the bag and the perfect lens for the shots he wanted to start with. With the lens screwed in and camera strap around his neck, Magnus got to work walking around the pen and clicking when he had a shot lined up.

It didn’t take too long before Magnus was sure he had at least 10 easily print-worthy shots for the article. He looked down at his watch to see it was quarter to 8 a.m. and began to wonder where the reporter was. He was sure he had the right time from Raphael. Just as he was about to take another shot, the sheep he had focused in on raised its head at the sound of a car door shutting before following the flow of its herd as the herd ran around the pen. 

Figuring it was as good a time to take a break and switch lenses anyway, Magnus headed back over to his camera bag. He caught a tall figure approaching the pen at a rather quick pace and stood made his way over to Missy who was also watching their new guest. As the person, who had to be the reporter, got closer Magnus could see a head of dark, tousled hair on top of a button up collared shirt covered torso and long legs clad in dark jeans which ended at the top of sensible hiking boots. The comfortable looking hiking boots made Magnus remember his own feet which had started to ache a bit in the unbroken in cowboy boots.

“I am so sorry I’m late,” the man said in a perfectly pitched voice even if it was a bit breathy from the quick pace the man had set.

When the man stopped right in front of them Magnus took a moment to take in his very handsome face. From his thick, dark eyebrows complete with a little scar through the left one, and wow Magnus had no idea he had a bit of a thing for eyebrows before, and warm, hazel eyes with flecks that shined when the sun hit just right. Magnus was certainly appreciating the view and was even more glad that it wasn’t wasted on Raphael who would in no way have appreciated the vision in front of Magnus. The man was currently clutching a steno pad, small recorder and pen in his right hand.

Magnus was so distracted by his staring that he missed some of the introductions taking place. It was only when the man shifted his gaze from Missy to Magnus that he realized just how long he had been staring without paying attention. Magnus worked with beautiful people nearly every day, but this man could replace just about any model he’s ever worked with, at least in a private collection for Magnus.

The man stopped suddenly when he made eye contact with Magnus. He opened and closed his mouth a few times as his eyes darted from Magnus’ hair to his boots multiple times without settling on one place for more than a second. Magnus smirked when he realized the man was appreciating his view just as much as Magnus was. It was only after the man made a few attempts at clearing his throat that he finally seemed to be able to speak again.

“Reporter,” he said, and Magnus had no idea it was possible for someone’s face to get that red so quickly. “I mean, I’m the reporter.” The man paused again, before closing his eyes and taking in a slow breath, letting it out again and opening his eyes. “Alexander. Well, Alec. I mean, hi, I’m Alec Lightwood.”

It seemed as if the man, Alec, was back to being able to function until he tried to reach out his right hand for Magnus to shake only to notice it was still clutching the tools of his trade. He nearly fumbled all three items as he switched them to his left hand and Magnus noticed even the tips of his ears now matched the color of his cheeks.

“Magnus,” Magnus said taking the reporter’s hand, squeezing it and brushing is thumb over the back of Alec’s hand, detecting a bit of a shiver at the movement. “The views are certainly wonderful out here this morning aren’t they?” He let go of Alec’s hand and added a very deliberate wink making sure Alec caught it.

A moment later Alec tilted his head to the side quizzically, much like an adorable puppy which made Magnus’ hand twitch to raise his camera and take a shot.

“Raphael,” Alec blurted out. “I thought the photographer’s name was Raphael.”

And well, fuck, Magnus said loudly inside his own head, mentally facepalming. 

*******

**Wednesday, Alec**

Alec groans as the map app on his phone announces it is rerouting again and switches to a later estimated arrival time. The morning started out so, so well and now he’s taking wrong turn after wrong turn and will do doubt be late to his first interview for the paper. He just barely resists the urge to bang his head on the steering wheel as an accident due to taking his eyes off the road would only make him even later at this point. 

Alec had made sure to prepare everything for today last night to have as smooth a morning as possible. He checked the address and travel time, set three alarms so he would in no way miss getting up on time, had his clothes for the day set to the side including the hiking boots Jace made him buy for a getaway trip with Raj a year ago, packed his lunch, and even went out and bought one of those iced coffee single glasses at the grocery store to save time this morning. And what did that all get him? Nothing thanks to failing at finding his way on the back roads of Idris. 

The majority of the excitement and adrenaline high Alec had been on since last night thanks to being back on assignment has nearly disappeared as the arrival time continued to move past 7:30 a.m. What a great impression on his first assignment. He’s lost count of the wrong turns he’s made and is kicking himself for relying on the map app instead of Lydia’s written directions. As he spots a road without a street sign at what could possible be the spot the app wants him to turn, he hold his breath as he turns the wheel and doesn’t let it out until he’s clear of a possible rerouting.

If he wasn't gripping the wheel so tightly due to frustration and now nervousness, he would have lifted his arms and cheered when he finally heard the app say his destination would be on the right. Seeing a gravel driveway and with what looks like a walking path or tractor trail after it, Alec decides that this must be the right place. He pulls into the driveway and follows the lane until he sees a small stone house with an inground pool to his right and a garage to his left.

“Okay,” Alec said as he put his SUV into park. “Farms don’t all look the same and maybe that path will lead to the sheep.”

He gets out of the vehicle, putting his phone into his pocket and makes his way to the door. It’s very quiet and there does not seem to be a doorbell, so he knocks against the door a few times. By his second knock, he hears a loud bang at a screen door facing him from the other side of the house. It takes a few moments, but a dog appears through the swinging blinds and starts to bark at Alec.

“Well at least that will get someone’s attention,” Alec whispered as he watched the dog.

He waited a few more moments when he realized that there were no other sounds apart from his four-legged welcoming committee. It’s beginning to look more and more like this is the wrong house as no one else seems to be home. Alec pulls his phone out clicking on the email icon and scrolling to the email from Lydia with the directions. When his eyes scan over the dirt driveway part, Alec again has to restrain himself from banging his head on something.

He quickly walks back to his car and makes his way out of the driveway again. This time when he looks over at the dirt road he happens to catch the large numbers on the mailbox. How he missed it earlier, he has no idea. But that is definitely the driveway he was supposed to go down. When he reaches the end of the correct driveway, he parks next to a Jeep. He looks up and sees people two people by a pen behind the first barn on the left and lets out a sigh of relief.

Of course that’s when he see that it’s nearly 7:45 a.m. He quickly grabs his steno pad, recorder and pen as he gets out of the car, closing the door with his left leg. Thanking genetics for his long legs, he sets a quick pace and makes it over to who he guesses is his interviewee for the morning and a man walking toward her holding a camera who must be Raphael.

“I am so sorry I’m late,” he said to the woman, smiling through his embarrassment. “I’m Alec Lightwood with The Idris Area Item.”

“Missy,” she said with a nod. “Don’t worry about it. The sheep aren’t going anywhere and you’re coworker here was getting some pictures of the them anyway.”

Alec nods back in gratitude of her accepting his apology and then turns his attention to the man with the camera. As soon as he gets a good look at Raphael, he freezes because how can anyone look that damn attractive while out on assignment at a farm? No, seriously, how can anyone look that gorgeous period? While Alec’s brain decides it needs a few moment, he takes in the man standing in front of him. From his perfectly styled hair that Alec has the desire to mess up just a bit to his deep, brown eyes surrounded by eyeshadow and eyeliner, and okay Alec now has a thing for eyeliner, which of course matches the shirt that he wishes had just a bit deeper of a cut at the neck.

And as his eyes trail down he notices the tight jeans that should just be illegal because again, they are out on a farm and this guy looks like he belongs in the pages of one of those magazines that Izzy used to flip through in high school. When he looks back at the man’s face he notices a smirk on his lips and Alec could honestly die happy right in this moment.

“Reporter,” he blurts out after having to clear his throat a few times. “I mean, I’m the reporter.” And wow, Alec apparently has lost all brain function now and he feels his cheeks and ears heat up as blood rushes to them thanks to his embarrassment. He take a breath to center himself before attempting to speak again. “Alexander. Well, Alec. I mean, hi, I’m Alec Lightwood.”

He reaches out to offer his hand for a handshake and notices his right hand is full. He nearly tosses the items into his left hand with how fast he tries to get rid of them. He can see amusement on the man’s face, but he still reaches out to shake Alec’s hand. 

“Magnus,” the man said as he shakes Alec’s hand. Alec can’t stop the bit of a shiver as the man’s thumb brushes across the back of his hand. “The views are certainly wonderful out here this morning aren’t they?” 

If Alec’s brain was actually functioning, he would roll his eyes at the cheesy line, but he just can’t seem to get his brain working properly again. Even so, he doesn’t miss the wink from Magnus as their hands break apart. Magnus, that’s certainly not a common name around here. And considering Lydia told him who the photographer would be he shouldn't be so surprised at how different the name is, Lydia said that Raphael would be…

“Raphael,” Alec blurted out. “I thought the photographer’s name was Raphael.”

The man freezes at Alec’s question and all of a sudden being a bit late to an interview is the least worrisome part of the day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the next chapter. Thanks again and enjoy.

**Wednesday**

Magnus froze at Alec’s question and forced himself to keep eye contact as he tried to stay calm, cool and collected, at least physically. His mind on the other hand was quickly sorting through possible explanations as to why the hell someone would wrongly introduce themselves. The options such as witness protection and nickname were quickly passed over as he needed the reasoning to be believable. Not so much for Raphael, though he did factor his preservation in to a possible response, but if Magnus had even the slightest chance of finding a way to see Alec again there needed to be a simple, believable reason for him to go by both Raphael and Magnus. Of course it would have been far easier if the names were anywhere close to being similar, but Magnus just had to work with the hand he had been dealt at this point. A hand he only has himself to blame.

Thanks to years of having to be quick on his feet, both literally and figuratively, Magnus was able to look ahead and block out the adorable puppy likeness Alec had going for him at the moment. If only he had been able to put that part of himself in a neat little box earlier, this whole mess could have been avoided. But, as his friends like to remind him far too often, even Magnus was not immune to beauty. It was just his luck that he came across this fine specimen while pretending to be someone else, at least in name.

Finally what felt like hours later, though had really only been a matter of seconds, Magnus landed on the perfect response. A response he would remind himself to pat himself on the back for later tonight when he would assure Raphael that he handled this situation perfectly. “Yes, you would be correct on that, darling. I usually remember to stick to my pen name of sorts when out on assignment, but I was so caught up in the view I forgot where we are.”

“A pen name?” Alec rhetorically asked, though he watches Magnus nod anyway. Alec wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but in all honesty a pen name is very much in the realm of possibilities. He’s come across his fair share of pen names. Hell, early on Alec made the decision for his own byline to be Alexander G. Lightwood, using that as a way to turn off the reporter switch. Though if one were to ask his siblings, that switch is left on far more often than not. And after all, what reason did Magnus or Raphael or whatever he wants to be called have to lie to him?

“So what should I call you then,” Alec asked, and Magnus let out of a breath of relief. 

“Magnus, please,” Magnus replied. “There’s no need for aliases here, don’t you agree?”

Alec nodded his head. “Yeah, Magnus it is then.”

Magnus’ lips quirked up in a smile. Then his eyes caught a bit of movement at his side and he remembered the whole reason for them being here. “And now that we have that straightened out, I believe we have some more pressing matters at hand here,” Magnus said gesturing toward Missy and the sheep.

“What?” Alec broke eye contact with Magnus and looked at where he was gesturing. “Yes, um, yeah the interview. We should get to, um, that. Yeah.”

Alec started to blush when Magnus’ eyes stayed on him as well as the smile on his face. He took a deep breath in hopes of stopping the red in his cheeks from progressing while he switched his recorder off of locked and pressed the button to put the device on the file he wanted before hitting the red record button. 

“Is it okay if I…” Alec asked MIssy as he gestured to the recorder.

Missy nodded. “Fine by me.”

“Okay, thanks,” Alec said putting the recorder on top of the steno pad and holding it there with his thumb while fiddling with the pen in his other hand. He looked around. “Should we do this here or is there somewhere else that you’d rather? Will this bother them?” He gestured to the sheep, huddled together and chewing on some feed. 

“Nah, this won’t bother them in the least. Here works fine,” Missy said waving her hand at the sheep. Her phone beeped and she quickly looked down.“Just give me a minute to handle this and I’ll be ready.” She walked a bit further into the pen while answering her phone.

Alec stopped his recording and erased the file he had started. He learned early on how being organized, even with the recordings, could save some precious time back at the office. Being able to record interviews was great in terms of being able to have an actual conversation with someone during the interview, but transcribing could be rather painful depending on how long the interview or meeting went on. But, accuracy with quotes far outweighed the tediousness of listening to a long interview or meeting a second time. Once he turned it off again, to save battery life, he glanced up at Magnus who was holding up his cellphone and looking at Alec. As soon as Magnus caught Alec’s focus on him, he put the phone in his back pocket.

“I’m not holding you up, am I?” Alec asked him. “If you have to get somewhere just let me know and we can get your part done first. I really don’t mind at all.”

“Not all,” Magnus said. “I have a few more shots to get including during your interview and I have every intention of continuing to admire this lovely view for as long as I can.” Just for emphasis, Magnus added a wink even though he was sure Alec still hadn’t quite caught on as he saw him look around the pen and farm land with slightly furrowed brows. Let it be said that Magnus loved a challenge even if it was just obliviousness that constituted as that challenge.

“Right,” Alec said slowly. “Just let me know if you need a certain shot or for me to get out of the way or something.”

Magnus nodded. “Noted, though I doubt we’ll run into that problem. I should get the shots pretty quickly and you probably won’t even notice I’m here. I’ll grab some others too just to be safe while you talk.” Magnus paused a moment and decided to take advantage of an opportunity to test the waters with Alec. “Maybe when you’re all done we can grab lunch? After all this could be the start of a very successful partnership. Seems like a good idea to get to know each other better then.”

Alec looked a bit flustered and as if he was stumbling over possible responses. Just as it looked like he finally landed on a reply, Missy rejoined the two and said she was ready to start the interview. Alec smiled weakly at Magnus before turning back to Missy and turning on the recorder once more. Magnus shook his head a bit, returned the smile and then brought his camera back up to get to work.

*******

It was nearly an hour later when Alec hit stop on his recorder, saved the file and turned the device off. Only a few minutes in to the interview he lost track of Magnus who wandered away from them and went back to focusing on the sheep and the area around the pen. He thanked Missy for taking the time to speak with him and she told him to pass along some thanks to Magnus as well as she made her way back to the house to work on more fair promotion. Alec stuffed his recorder, pen and steno pad into his pockets and took a moment to enjoy being outside in the relative quiet. 

He closed his eyes as he tilted his head up toward the sun. He felt a cold, wet nudge at one of his hands around the same time he heard a rapid fire of clicks. When he opened his eyes and looked down he saw one of the sheep by his side. Crouching down a bit, Alec pet the sheep on the head as he continued to hear the clicks. After a few moments a few more sheep broke off from the herd and made their way over, surrounding Alec. He couldn’t help but laugh as he was bombarded with more cold and wet nudges.

Magnus saw the moment Alec and Missy’s interview finished. He had quickly gotten the photos he needed for the assignment as well as plenty of extra shots as a just in case and to help fluff out an online gallery. Even though he had a few photos of Alec using his cellphone earlier, he took advantage of the extra time to get higher quality shots with his camera. As far as Magnus could tell, Alec had no idea his picture was even being taken.

At the moment, his favorite shot had to be one from the cluster he took of Alec with his eyes closed and his face turned toward the sun. The way the light was hitting his features and the barest of shadows on his face  from his eyelashes made the photos stunning. His favorite was one in which Alec had just the start of a soft smile. That shot was quickly pushed down when one of the sheep approached Alec and convinced the tall man to force himself down a bit to the sheep’s level and begin to pet the animal’s head. And then Magnus’ favorite shot came to be as more sheep followed their pack member and began to surround Alec who was laughing in the middle of a circle of sheep all nudging him for some attention. Magnus thanked the universe for giving Raphael this assignment in the first place, because what a sight Magnus just captured forever on film.

Alec was having a hard time making himself walk away from the herd. He may not have his own petl, mostly due to the long and odd hours he works, but he loves just about every animal with the exception of spiders. This right here is the best Alec has felt in way too long. The alarm on his phone caused Alec to jump and the sheep to scatter away from him. He knew the interview had been a bit longer than expected but hadn’t realized that he had been out on the farm for so long. Unfortunately, that meant he had to start making his way back to the office. Alec straightened up and brushed his hands on his pants, that’s when he caught sight of Magnus who still had his camera in front of his face and directed at Alec.

Magnus paused his finger right before it hit the shutter button for another photo when the sheep scattered and Alec straightened up. As soon as Alec looked at him, Magnus slowly put the camera back down relying on the neck strap to hold the camera in the area of his chest.

“Getting more shots?” Alec asked as he walked toward Magnus.

“One can never have too many shots,” Magnus replied. “Shall we?” he asked and they began to walk toward their vehicles.

They made their way over, walking at a leisurely pace and in comfortable silence. They both stopped short of opening their respective doors.

“Thank you for coming today. It helped not having to worry about photos as well as interviewing,” Alec said. “Hopefully we can work together on other assignments too.”

“It was my pleasure and if I have any say in it, we will definitely be seeing each other again,” Magnus said, fiddling with the keys to Raphael’s Jeep. “Speaking of, how do you feel about grabbing some lunch? On me of course.”

Alec internally sighed. He wanted nothing more than to accept Magnus’ offer, even if he had a feeling he would be a stuttering, rambling and blushing mess the whole time. “I really wish I could,” he said, resisting the urge to wring his hands. “But I promised Lydia I would be back to the office around lunch since one of the other reporters is out for the day at an event. Simon, I’m not sure if you’ve worked with him or not, but yeah I just can’t today. I’m really sorry, but maybe next time? If we get put on assignment together again?”

“How about we do away with that ‘on assignment together again’ and set up a lunch or, even better, dinner date soon?” Magnus suggested.

“A...um...a date...are you sure, I mean...well,” Alec replied bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck.

Magnus raised his eyebrows as Alec continued his attempts at a response. Alec was saved from continuing when his phone buzzed with a text message. He glanced down to see it was from Lydia reminding him to be back at the office.

“I really have to go. I’m sorry, I just…,” Alec started only to be stopped by Magnus raising a finger in front of his lips, nearly making contact.

“No apologies necessary, darling,” Magnus said, motioning for Alec’s phone. Barely even thinking about it, Alec grabbed his phone, unlocked it and passed it over to Magnus. “Here’s my number. Just give me a text, or call, and we’ll set something up. Now get going back to the office. It was my absolute pleasure to meet you Alexander and I look forward to hearing from you. The sooner the better.”

Alec took the phone back from Magnus and tried to control his blush. Magnus meanwhile did his best not to comment on the reddening of Alec’s cheeks. How could this man, who could easily be described as tall, dark and handsome, be so easily flustered and embarrassed by compliments?

“Um, yeah, thanks. It was nice to meet you too,” Alec said, hitting the button to unlock his vehicle and opening the door. “Have a good day Magnus and can’t wait to see the pictures.”

Alec gave a little wave as he started to shut the door. “I’ll be waiting to hear from you, Alec,” he heard Magnus say before the door shut.

Magnus watched Alec drive away. He made his move, and now it was time for Alec to respond as he so desired. Taking his own phone off of airplane mode, Magnus saw a number of texts from Raphael starting with one reminding him not to mess this up to checking in on how things were going to worrying about the lack of response from Magnus. What really caught Magnus’ attention though was the most recent text filled with typos and incorrect grammar, something so very unlike Raphael. From what Magnus could make out, Raphael had apparently encountered someone very extraordinary and had, in his own words, just made an utter fool of himself.

“Oh this will be good,” Magnus said as he got into the Jeep. He quickly responded to Raphael that he would talk to him, making sure to include the pair of eyes emoji a few times, when he got back to his house and then made his own way out of the driveway.

Magnus could only hope, seeing as how this day seemed to work out rather well for both of them, that the cause of Raphael’s typo and incorrect grammar filled message would be enough to distract Raphael from Magnus’ own flub with the names during his introduction to Alexander.

And Magnus of course had at least a text from Alec that he was sure would come shortly to look forward to. There was no way Alec could have possibly missed Magnus’ interest after he gave him his phone number and now all Magnus had to do was wait patiently. 

**Author's Note:**

> Just in case there's any interest, feel free to use #dateandbylines if you want to chat.


End file.
